KCL or Manchester

Original post by Sumac

If you want to study mechanical engineering I wouldn't enrol on a materials engineering course. The general engineering at KCL, how "general" is that - can you specialise in mechanical?

Reply 2

kev23s

Original post by Sumac

manchester is quite a good engineering school. on QS ranking Manchester mec engineering is ranked 29th, whereas KCL only ranked about 200ish .

Reply 3

Original post by Smack

If you want to study mechanical engineering I wouldn't enrol on a materials engineering course. The general engineering at KCL, how "general" is that - can you specialise in mechanical?

Hi thank you for answering kcl general engineering is a new degree (2002) so there is not much info /ranking perspective. It covers holistic of real-world engineering modules include :
Mechanics and maths for engineers
Keys to engineering
Electrical and electronic engineering
Design
Physical computing
Modeling
Energy and sustainability
Materials
Thermofluids
Mechatronics
Robotics
Computing and hardware design
Machine learning

It seems to cover the basics of everything but Kcl doesn’t do mechanical as a degree however so can’t specialise.
Thanks for your thoughts

Reply 4

Original post by kev23s

manchester is quite a good engineering school. on QS ranking Manchester mec engineering is ranked 29th, whereas KCL only ranked about 200ish .

Thanks. Agreed though Kcl overall ranking is 35th worldwide, McGill 40th and Manchester 51st. Eg.Harvard is not that good at engineering, but I think many people would go just for the name. How does that work in the uk/ job market etc between kcl and Manchester ?

Reply 5

Original post by Sumac

From looking at those modules there is a very large overlap with a standard mechanical engineering degree, so you'll cover a lot of the same content. Only potential issue might be that if the certificate does not say "mechanical" on it, then some employers might not accept the degree as suitable for a position where they're looking for applicants with mechanical engineering degrees.

Reply 6

kev23s

Original post by Smack

that won't be an issue because engineering does work cross-discipline. I'm doing electrical and electronic engineering, I can find a job doing oil and gas if I want to.

Reply 7

Original post by kev23s

that won't be an issue because engineering does work cross-discipline. I'm doing electrical and electronic engineering, I can find a job doing oil and gas if I want to.

Oil & gas is a sector, not a discipline of engineering. Most engineering disciplines can find jobs in most sectors, because, as you say, every sector (that I can think of, at least) is multidiscipline. That's not the same things as getting a job in another discipline to what you have studied or graduated in though. But the potential issue here is that the name on the certificate might not match up with the requirements in some cases, even though the content studied looks to be extremely similar. In lots of cases it won't be an issue, but in some it might.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 8

nuustuu

I am sure Manchester provides accreditation with their course but am not sure about KCL. Without accreditation you must take extra courses before going into the workplace

Reply 9

Original post by kev23s

that won't be an issue because engineering does work cross-discipline. I'm doing electrical and electronic engineering, I can find a job doing oil and gas if I want to.

Thanks for your answer, that’s what makes the decision hard. Where are you studying please?

Reply 10

Original post by Smack

Thanks for the answer. When I ask around people take a general engineer as being « not a real engineer » or 2nd class :frown:

KCL doesn’t state actual course content for each module on their website so it’s difficult to compare.

Reply 11

Rarest

Original post by Sumac

I'd take rankings with a pinch of salt, as it varies a lot within these Universities. Eg on QS overall ranking, Manchester is 27th, and Kings and Mcgill are joint 31st. Manchester also outranks Kings on ARWU.

That being said, I do feel KCL is the most prestigious of the lot, but if you do end up going to McGill or Manchester you will still be receiving very good training with excellent employment chances.

Reply 12

Original post by nuustuu

Without accreditation you must take extra courses before going into the workplace

Just pointing out that this isn't strictly correct. Accreditation only matters for chartership. In terms of your eligibility to enter the workplace, there is nothing stopping people with unaccredited degrees entering into any role that their employer allows.

Original post by Sumac

Thanks for the answer. When I ask around people take a general engineer as being « not a real engineer » or 2nd class :frown:

KCL doesn’t state actual course content for each module on their website so it’s difficult to compare.

Who says a general engineer is not a real engineer, or even second class? That's a very odd statement.

Reply 13

Original post by Smack

Seriously, it's what I've been told by 'old timers' who think if you get into general engineering it's because you 'didn't make the grade' ....

Reply 14

Original post by Sumac

Seriously, it's what I've been told by 'old timers' who think if you get into general engineering it's because you 'didn't make the grade' ....

It's still an unusual thing to say, because only a few universities offer general engineering and at most of them you'll still graduate in a specific discipline anyway.

Reply 15